Winter Melts in the Spring
by FortunesArkHero
Summary: After saving Steve's life, Bucky seeks out the truth about his own. Injured, confused, and just a bit scared, Bucky finds himself thrown into the life of some unexpected help who teaches him that he doesn't have to be all he can remember. After all, winter melts in the spring.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! I wanted to write a story about how Bucky was dealing with the past coming back to him, so this picks up right where Winter Soldier left off. As always, please read, review, favorite and follow and most of all, enjoy!**

It was creepy. Super creepy. Obviously creepy, but thankfully no one noticed. Well, it's not like anyone would know who he was unless they got right up in his face. They would regret that if that happened. Bucky Barnes looked at the image of himself on the wall in the Smithsonian's Captain America exhibit. It was weird seeing his face like that. He read the description about him: James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes. Born in 1917, best friends with Steve Rogers. Joined the army and became Sergeant of the 107th. Was captured in 1943 and rescued by Rogers and became part of the Howling Commandoes. Was presumed KIA in 1944 after falling from a HYDRA train. But his death wasn't real. He was there, alive.

Whatever that rat Arnim Zola did to him, it caused him to live. After he fell off the train, Bucky survived. He barely remembered anything, had lost his left arm (to this day, he still can't remember how it was lost). He was a pawn. And he hated it. He felt his fingers, metallic and flesh and bone, ball up inside his coat pockets. He was getting angry.

Bucky inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Within a minute, he had been calm again. That was his face on that wall. It was his face, but not his face. An old life that came back every so often. His hair was shorter in that image, much shorter than his own. His eyes were sad in the picture…lost. His eyes probably looked like that right now. Sadness, grief, confusion. Bucky sighed again; his feet dragged him to the Howling Commandoes uniforms. He looked at his uniform; the dark blue jacket and the standard-issued army pants. His eyes scanned over to his comrades. He shook his head, lightly. Nothing came back to him about those guys. And the worst part was that they were all dead, so he couldn't talk to them to learn about himself.

Bucky's dark brows drew together as he saw a small wave of little children run past him and observe the pictures of Steve on the wall. They all wore something that had Captain America embedded on it. That was good that they all looked up to him. They needed a hero, and who better to look up to than the hero of America? One child, a little girl of about 6, accidentally nudged his leg as she ran to catch up with her friends. She turned around and looked at him. Her little nose wrinkled in confusion as her gaze shifted repeatedly from him to the picture of his old self. Immediately, her little eyes shot wide with wonder. Bucky put his finger to his lips and then quickly put his hand back into his pocket. Thankfully, he was wearing a glove so no one would see his metal hand. The girl turned back around and looked at the images of Steve with her friends.

Bucky turned on his heel and instantly collided with someone.

There was a clatter of objects on the floor that Bucky recognized as papers and books. He and the person he bumped in to (dammit, he should apologize and try to act normal) both crouched down to retrieve the fallen items. He gathered up a book before standing up, his eyes scanned over the book's title: Command under the Red Star. On the cover was the symbol of the Russian flag. Ah, so this was a book about communist Russia and soviet spies. How fitting. When the person held out their hand, that's when Bucky looked at them and saw that he had collided with a woman. He gently deposited the book into her hand. Bucky examined her carefully. She had dark hazel eyes and dark brown pixie hair to match. By the look of her attire, khaki pants and a polo shirt, he made the guess that she worked in the Smithsonian.

"Sorry," he muttered as he stuck his hand back into his pocket. "Should've been paying attention."

The girl and Bucky locked eyes with each other. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and that's when it hit him: She knew that he was Bucky Barnes. Of course she would know. Her place of employment had pictures of him plastered all over the place. She would know if she had come across the best friend of Steve Rogers. He just stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights. Was she going to alert someone? Was she going to later call the cops? What if he was going to be taken away by doctors and be further experimented on? Shit, he had the worst luck. "I won't tell anyone," she whispered before Bucky could even open his mouth and ask her not to tell anyone. She stepped a bit closer to him. "The way I see it, if you want to tell the world that _the_ Bucky Barnes is still alive, then it should be you." Both Bucky and the girl looked at the image of himself on the wall and every now and then, she glanced to him.

"I can't really remember who I am," he spoke sadly. His eyes were still sad and the girl's face softened. "Do you remember what happened?" Bucky sighed as he focused so hard on the image of his past self, but the girl just kept looking at him. She thought she saw a tear slip down his cheek. He swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. "I fell off a train. A HYDRA train. My arm was gone. Bit of a blur after that." He blinked hard. The girl looked down for a moment, trying to hide the sadness that had swelled inside her. "Sorry," she said softly as she placed a comforting hand on his right arm. He winced and pulled away slightly, almost as if her touch burned him. She recoiled at his reaction. "Are you hurt? What happened?" Bucky shook his head as he looked at the girl that became concerned for him. This was strange. He hadn't had someone worry about him lately…other than Steve. "Injured it a bit ago. Still hurts."

"I think you should get that looked at," she said as she clutched the book closer to her chest. The girl looked over her shoulder to see the pool of children start to wander away from the exhibit. "Well," she said as she looked back at Bucky. "It seems that I have to go. Please get your arm looked at." She gave him a sad smile before turning on her heel and started to walk to the children. She bit on her bottom lip and just stopped walking. She felt bad for him. She glanced down at the papers and book in her arms. She sharply inhaled, spun around quickly and walked back up to him. Impulsively, she held out the book and papers to him. "What are you-" "I want you to have these. There are some things about Captain America and the Howling Commandoes in there that this exhibit doesn't have. I was gonna tell the kids, but, you need it more." Cautiously, Bucky took the book and papers into his concealed metal hand. He gave her a quick smile before his frown returned.

"If you come back and have questions or just need someone to talk to about this, you can come find me. I work here from 3 to 10 Monday through Friday." With another nod of his head, Bucky saw the girl leave and she joined the children. That was very odd. A complete stranger wasn't scared of him and offered her help. Bucky looked down at the objects in his hand. This might actually be what could help him remember more about himself. He put the book into his jacket pocket and carefully folded the papers and placed them on the inside pocket of his jacket. As quick as a shadow, Bucky left the exhibit and headed to a small table to read the new and hopefully promising information that he had received. Maybe his shit luck wasn't so shit anymore.

* * *

The young woman was changing in the employee bathroom. She changed from her khaki pants and polo shirt into slim fitting jeans, a black tank top, a red plaid flannel jacket and her brown combat boots. She was usually the last one to leave, always stayed to make sure that the place was locked up and always said hello to the elderly security guard. She pulled her small satchel with her left over lunch and some drawings the kids made her over her shoulder and made her descent toward the exit. "Bye, Lee! See ya on Monday!" "Alright, kiddo. See ya later." She walked out of the building. It was a nice night brightly illuminated by the uncountable clusters of stars. She walked towards her small little car. As she was about to put the key in and unlock it, a noise made her stop.

The groan of man that was being beaten.

She turned her head to the left and saw 3 men; the one being beaten and the other two beating the hell out of him. He just took it. "Hey!" She called out to the men. The two attackers snapped their heads to her direction. "Leave him alone!" Slowly like a shark evaluating its prey, the men began to stalk towards her. Her eyes shot wide. She wasn't going to leave the man to defend himself when he wasn't able to against these two. She should've kept a concealed weapon on her. All the guards told her that she should be protected. Maybe if she hit them hard enough with her satchel they would leave. She clenched her hands into fist, ready to attack when a metallic hand grabbed one of the men by the back of his neck and flung him to the wall.

The other attacker charged at the man with the metal limb, slamming a fist into his abdomen. He threw the attacker into the wall and he fell down next to the other man. The two stood up, both breathing heavy and eyed the metal arm of the man they were previously beating. They heard a siren, assuming that the girl somehow dialed the police. "Head out, man!" He called to his friend. Both of them bolted from behind the building, leaving just the girl and the man with the metal arm to themselves.

"Thanks," she said as she turned to look at him. "You kinda saved-" Her eyes got wide and her mouth gaped. No way! It was _him_! "Bucky?" His breathing was labored and laced with pain. He looked like he was sweating. "Hey. Bucky, are you ok?" Bucky shook his head lightly, trying to ward of the wave of dizziness that had crept upon him, but it did not stop him from losing his balance and nearly toppling on to her. "Holy shit, Bucky! Are you ok!?" She gently laid him down against the brick wall, checking to see what was wrong with him. Her eyes roamed over his legs, arms and torso when she gasped and saw it: there was a deep stab wound in his lower left abdomen. When it looked like the man punched him, he actually stabbed him. She pulled out her polo shirt, wadded it up and placed it on his wound. She also grabbed his hand and placed it on the shirt to keep the pressure.

His eyes began to droop and they became half-lidded. Her breathing hitched in her throat. She had just met this man and already she was so scared that he might die. "No. Bucky, you have to keep your eyes open. Just keep them open." Darkness was ready to claim him and he was ready to let it keep him. His eyes closed and his last image was not the girl, but it was Steve. He barely remembered Steve, but it was him. And he was glad.

"Bucky, no!"

**So, I am hoping that I did not hurt many of your feels with this (I'm totally lying, I hope your heart aches ^~^). The elderly guard, Lee, is of course a nod to our Marvel Godfather, Stan Lee. I would love to hear your feedback on this story! I will take any and all opinions you have for me...because I'm with you til the end of the line. Please review, favorite and follow!**

**~Fortune**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am blown away by the supportive response. Seriously, you all rock so much! I am so appreciative of everyone that reads, reviews, favorites and follows. A lot of you were worried about Bucky and we will learn of his fate in this chapter. There will be mention of pre-serum Steve/Bucky and it makes my heart hurt. Once again, thank you for all the support for this. Please read, review, favorite, follow and most of all...enjoy!**

He felt fuzzy. Fuzzy and warm.

And he felt movement.

Slowly and almost near painfully, Bucky's eyes pried open. Soon after, his hearing kicked in. There was a gentle sound. The sound…of raindrops. He slightly turned his head and saw what looked like the inside of a small car. From what he could tell (which was not much thanks to his hazy vision), he was lying across the backseat; his head was propped up against the handle of a door. The car came to a stop and he could see that they were halted by a red light. Bucky closed his eyes for a moment; his head lolled near his left shoulder as he outstretched his metal arm and lightly punched the roof of the car. He heard a gasp come from the driver's seat. The young woman casted her gaze from over her shoulder to see Bucky and the biggest smile erupted on her face.

She looked back in front of her. Once the light turned green, she drove a little further down the road and pulled up to somewhere. She undid her seatbelt and crawled into the backseat slowly as to not scare him. Bucky groggily looked at her, but it was so hard to keep his eyes open. "You're awake," she said to him as he tried to concentrate to stay conscious. Bucky tried to sit up, but the shooting pain in his abdomen returned. "Take it easy." She gently put her hands on his shoulders. Bucky eyes got wide and he flinched; the memories of the HYDRA men pushing him back into the chair for electroshock therapy all came rushing back to him. But she was not HYDRA. She was trying to help. She retracted her hands from his shoulders. "You just…you shouldn't be moving around too quickly. You were stabbed, remember?"

Bucky's eyes trailed down to his abdomen. Her crumpled polo shirt was still pressed to his wound. "Where am I?" he muttered as he tried to scan his surroundings. "Where did you bring me?" "My house," she replied quickly. He drew his eyebrows together. Well, it was better than a hospital. He didn't want anyone to know that he was still alive. "I figured that you didn't want people to know about you yet. I thought this might be the best way to help." She sighed as she moved some of Bucky's unkempt hair out of his face. "Ok. Bucky, I'm gonna open this door and help you out." After a moment, Bucky gave her a curt nod. She scooted closer to the door and opened it. Gently, she hooked her arms under his, pulling him out until she was able to get his metallic arm over her shoulder. Once he was on his feet (and muttered Russian curses every time pain coursed through his body), she pressed her hand to his wound. His metal hand gripped lightly at her shoulder, and he took the first step.

After a few strenuous minutes of walking (and getting drenched in the process), they finally got to the front door and entered her home. She clicked on the light. She gently maneuvered him to the couch that was in her living room. He plopped on to the couch with a groan, while she traveled to the bathroom and searched for some items to help stitch up his wound. She returned to her living room, sat down next to Bucky and set her small kit in her lap. In the 30 seconds that she was away from him, he had removed his jacket, hat, plaid shirt, his boots, and had opted to lie on his back to minimize the circulation of pain. He knew she was going to stitch him up using some sort of needle and thread. He just hoped that she didn't do a crap job at it.

She held up her hand; in her palm rested 2 white pills.

"What are you doing?" He asked as an inquisitive eyebrow shot up. "Giving you Vicodin. It's a painkiller." "I know what Vicodin is," he said with a hint of annoyance. "Why are you giving it to me?" She sighed as she balled her hand into a fist. He just looked up at the ceiling, not wanting to look at her for some reason. "Everyone believes that you're dead. I don't know what happened to make that _not_ happen, but I think it's pretty clear that HYDRA had something to do with it since you fell off that train. I don't know what they did to you, I don't know if you have an immunity to pain medication or if you can feel pain, but I don't think you want me to stick a needle in your skin to stitch a deep wound and set your broken arm without some way to block the pain."

"How'd you figure out my arm was broken?" he said, impressed.

She shrugged and the corner of her mouth tugged upwards into a smirk. "I had to get you into the car when you passed out and I remembered that you said you hurt it. Doesn't take much to put two and two together. It's really not even that bad of a break, but it should've been set when you broke it so it could heal properly." She held up her hand again. Bucky sighed as he plucked the pills from her hand and dry swallowed them. After a few minutes, she slightly pulled up his black shirt, and involuntarily grimaced at the wound he had received while protecting her. "Not gonna lie…this is probably gonna sting like hell." Thankfully, Bucky looked to be completely out of it. So, the pain meds worked after all.

She had cleaned around the wound and sterilized the needle. "Bucky, this is the needle that I am going to use to stitch your wound." She received no response from him. His brain was probably muddled from the drugs. "Please don't hate me for this," she muttered to herself. After threading the needle (but surprisingly with steady hands), she began to suture his wound. Bucky didn't squirm that much and he had actually fallen asleep. She intricately stitched it together at least 8 times over to prevent any further damage. After the stitching was completed, she applied many bandages to hold it together. She got up and threw away all of the used cloths and washed her hands. Her feet dragged her to her hallway closet as she rummaged through old things that could be used for a make-shift sling for Bucky's arm. Finally, she came across an old pillow case.

She came back to Buck's side; he looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. As if all the worries of the world, all of the problems that he carried on his shoulders, just melted away. She felt really bad for him. She knew he had been through hell, and from what she had read and seen at the exhibit, Bucky seemed like a very good guy. He didn't deserve this. She sighed as she looked down at his right arm. She gripped his arm carefully, hoping that he would not wake up for a while. "Oh, Bucky," she started, nervously. "Please don't wake up for a bit." She shut her eyes tight and gripped his arm just a bit tighter. She jerked his arm and her ears filled with a loud pop. She slipped his arm into the make-shift sling.

All Bucky did was loll his head and make a sleepy moan.

* * *

The sun started to peak over the land when Bucky came to. He groaned lightly as he pushed himself up with his metal arm. Instinctively, his metal hand brushed over his wound and felt the tight constriction of the bandages beneath the fabric of his shirt. His eyes roamed all over the place and his gaze halted as his right arm pinned to his chest in the sling. He did have to admit that it felt a bit better now that it was set. Looking at his arm in the sling made his mind immediately envision Steve. His scrawny friend. But Steve looked much smaller, like he was a teenager. Other things started to fill his mind, too: A small shop, some mean kids, and a hospital. From what he perceived from the memory, he had gotten into a fight with some kids and again, his arm was hurt. His brows were drawn together as the memory still played.

Bucky snapped his head to his right when he heard the sharp intake of breath. The young woman, his caretaker, had fallen asleep on a chair next to the couch. She rubbed her tired eyes with the heel of her hand as they fluttered open. When her tired eyes made contact with Bucky, she immediately got up from the chair. "Hey," she said as she sat next to Bucky on the edge of the couch. She had a small hopeful smile on her face. "How are you feeling?" Bucky sighed as he ran his metallic hand through his unkempt hair. "Like I was hit by a semi that wouldn't stop." The corner of her mouth tugged as she scratched the back of her neck. "Well, getting the shit beat out of you, having a broken arm and a stab wound will do that you." Bucky rolled his eyes as he shifted on the couch, letting out a small hiss of pain. He saw that she looked concerned but he waved it off. Pain didn't matter that much too him. But there was something that mattered that he hadn't figured out yet.

"I never got your name."

Her eyebrows creased together in thought. "Oh," she said, surprised. "Sorry. I didn't…I didn't realize that we hadn't been properly introduced. My name is Mack Spencer." So, her name was Mack. Since when had Mack become a girl's name? "Mack?" he questioned, trying the name out for himself. "Your name is Mack?" She nodded and then smirked as she saw the confusion make itself apparent on Bucky's face. "It's short for 'Mackendree', but it's sort of a mouthful so everyone just started calling me 'Mack'." She shrugged a little as Bucky pursed his lips, but he opted to not say anything about her name and just shook his head. "Thanks, Mack. For stitching me up and…stuff." She gave an awkward smile and curtly nodded. Mack stood up from the couch. "I'm gonna go make you some breakfast. Something light so you don't exert yourself and slow down your recovery."

"I remembered something."

Mack's breath hitched in her throat as she slowly sat back down next to him. "The last time my arm was in a sling like this, I was 16; a punk kid that got into fights all the time. But those fights, they were to protect Steve. He was still too weak to defend himself. One time, Steve and I were going to the soda shop, I was running late. Steve was waiting outside for me; this jerk started roughin' him up, wanting his money. Steve, being the idiot that he was, tried to stand up to him. I got there and he was getting hit, so I stopped the kid from throwin' punches. I thought the kid was done, but he grabbed my arm and yanked really hard. Steve and the shop owner got me to the hospital. My arm was broken and Steve earned himself a black eye and a bloody nose." Bucky looked into Mack's eyes as he bit the inside of his cheek, sadness had crept inside him at the thought of the many years he spent without his best friend.

"I used to not know his name, but he was still there. No matter how many times I was erased, no matter what HYDRA did, Steve was still there." Mack ran her hands over her face, her gaze then caught sight of the red star on his arm. "HYDRA really messed you up, huh?" Bucky didn't respond, but Mack took that as his way of saying 'yes'. Mack entwined her hands and tapped her thumbs together. She pressed her lips together in a thin line and swallowed hard. Bucky looked out the window, seeing the beautiful sunrise composed of pink, yellow and orange. Mack bit her bottom lip and sighed softly.

"Is that why you haven't told anyone that you're the Winter Soldier?"

**So, it appears that Mack knows he's the Winter Soldier (how she knows will be explained next chapter). Did you like some of the pre-war teenage Bucky and Steve? It made me tear up a little while writing it. So, for every chapter I do, I do shout outs to those that reviewed (and there is a good amount for the first chapter) so here we go:**

**D-Aw, thanks, dear! I'm always so paranoid about my writing. No, Bucky isn't going to die, but he's not out of the woods. Hope to hear from you.**

**Methos1228-Aw, thank you! I am very determined to finish this story. Winter Soldier made the plot bunnies stay and wouldn't leave. I thought it would be a nice parallel for a young girl to see Bucky like the little boy saw Steve. I love h/c fics. They are my Achilles heel. And I needed to have a nod to Stan Lee. It seemed fitting.**

**Guest-I love doing parallels between Bucky and Steve, and I think I might be able to do more. Bucky and children is the most adorable thing in the world. And yep, we figure it out her name in this chapter.**

**YouKnowWhoI Am-Thank you, dear. I love cliffhanger endings, and I supposed I did that with this one, too. I think the feels in this one will hurt too.**

**RandomGuest- Bucky has been through hell. And there is more too come.**

**WintersChildren- Oh gosh, your username is hilarious (WintersChildren is the name that Sebastian Stan gave to the fans of Winter Soldier). I want to write more about the children that come to Mack's exhibit and interact with Bucky.**

**Guest 2-Thank you! Bucky's ok for now but that might not stay the same in the future.**

**Anon-Aw thank you dear!**

**Guest 3- I think Mack and Steve will be able to help put Bucky back together, but it will take time.**

**StarsAndStripes- You know, I wonder myself if Mack will tell Steve about Bucky. I guess we will have to see.**

**THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THOSE! I love doing them, and I love it when I get a lot. Enjoy this chapter, everyone. Please review!**

**Until next time!**

**~Fortune**


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